On June 14, 2023, the European Parliament voted to approve the first draft of the new AI Act, the world’s first comprehensive law regulating artificial intelligence (“AI”). Although the law has not yet been passed and may be...more
6/22/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
EU ,
Innovative Technology ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Machine Learning ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda
With supporters of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act unable to advance the legislation under the regular rules of the Senate, they are now attempting to move pieces of the legislation by way of special rules...more
9/9/2021
/ Budget Reconciliation ,
Federal Budget ,
Labor Reform ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Union Organizers ,
Unions
On May 28, President Biden released his $6 trillion budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year. While final spending decisions are decided by Congress, the president’s budget submission typically provides a general idea of...more
On March 31, 2021, President Biden unveiled his $2 trillion infrastructure plan, the American Jobs Plan (AJP), which comes on the heels of the enactment of last month’s $1.9 trillion COVID-recovery legislation, the American...more
On March 9, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021 (PRO Act) by a largely party-line vote of 225-206. One Democratic Representative voted against the bill; five...more
3/11/2021
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NLRA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
On March 6, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed its version of President Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” by a vote of 50-49 (Vice President Kamala Harris was prepared to cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the bill). All Senate...more
3/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
COBRA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Credits ,
Unemployment Insurance
On January 14, 2021, President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. released his administration’s plan for additional COVID-19 economic relief. The $1.9 trillion package includes a range of measures to address the continued...more
1/19/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Hazard Pay ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Minimum Wage ,
OSHA ,
Relief Measures ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wage and Hour
As 2020 draws to a close, Congress appears to be on track to approve a final round of COVID-19 relief before adjourning until January 2021. This final package is expected to include direct payments to individuals; extension...more
On Saturday, September 26, President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on the bench occasioned by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...more
On July 27, 2020, Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate unveiled its latest legislative response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act. The bill represents...more
On May 15, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6800, the “Heath and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions” or “HEROES” Act....more
In addition to numerous provisions expanding paid leave and unemployment benefits, the newly introduced Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act would create a program enabling employers to...more
On May 12, 2020, the Democratic leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled its opening bid in the next round of COVID-19 response legislation. ...more
5/14/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EPSLA ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
Trump Administration
The wave of COVID-19 litigation is not coming; it has arrived. Even before most states open back up for business, plaintiff’s lawyers are suing employers for a variety of alleged violations related to the virus, including...more
Senate lawmakers agreed on April 21, 2020, to inject cash into the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a mechanism for offering forgivable loans to small businesses. Lawmakers also agreed to allocate more money for disaster...more
On March 16, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled legislation revisiting the sweeping COVID-19 response bill it passed only days earlier. While ostensibly styled as “corrections” to the prior legislation, this...more
On March 18, 2020, the U.S. Senate approved House-passed legislation responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill will now be sent to the president, who is expected to sign it into law. Of direct interest to the business...more
In the early hours of March 14, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping legislation in response to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) across the United States. The Emergency Families First Coronavirus...more
3/17/2020
/ China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Health ,
Sick Leave ,
Tax Credits ,
Workplace Safety
The year 2020 is already shaping up to be quite active on the employment law front, and a quarter of U.S. states have yet to convene their 2020 legislative sessions. In January, over 800 labor and employment-related bills,...more
2/5/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Ban the Box ,
Cash Transactions ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Dress Codes ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Tipped Employees ,
Tips ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Statements ,
WARN Act
On Friday, August 30, 2019, the California State Senate Appropriations Committee approved controversial legislation—Assembly Bill 5 (A.B. 5)—that would potentially reclassify millions of independent contractors as “employees”...more
9/4/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Governor Newsom ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
Assembly Bill (AB) 5, currently pending in the California legislature, would impose the “ABC” test on California businesses and workers, dramatically altering the legal standards applied in evaluating whether a worker is an...more
8/9/2019
/ ABC Test ,
Dynamex ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Misclassification ,
Pending Legislation ,
Risk Assessment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On July 18, 2019, voting largely along party lines, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $15.00 an hour by 2025. ...more
A bipartisan bill introduced on May 21, 2019 in the U.S. Senate seeks to prepare America’s employers and workers for the 21st century economy by establishing a national Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy and investing $2.2...more
In legislative terms, the month of March came in like a lion and went out (almost) like a lamb, as the pace of new bills introduced at the state level slowed considerably. Roughly 300 new labor and employment-related bills...more
4/5/2019
/ Criminal Background Checks ,
Drug Testing ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Pay ,
Labor Relations ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Wage and Hour
State and local legislatures considered over 1,000 labor and employment bills in February, more than 600 of them new. ...more
3/4/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Appearance Policy ,
Ban the Box ,
Big Data ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Dress Codes ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Joint Employers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Pay Gap ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Race Discrimination ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations